


Tales From the Sneak

by SeekerSpock32



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/F, Friendship, Redemption
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-08
Updated: 2020-07-16
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:14:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,563
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25141477
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SeekerSpock32/pseuds/SeekerSpock32
Summary: Marietta Edgecombe did indeed betray the DA, but what she did after that was far more important. She became a hero in her own right.
Relationships: Background Ginny Weasley/Harry Potter, Background Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger/Marietta Edgecombe, Marietta Edgecombe/Cho Chang
Kudos: 3





	1. Foreword: The Secret Hero

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters. No profit is being made nor is any copyright infringement intended.

As the news of Harry Potter’s defeat of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named spread around the Wizarding World and then spread as legend into the muggle world, the contributions made by some people were remembered better than others. The contributions of Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Ginny Weasley, Neville Longbottom, and Luna Lovegood during the final downfall of the Dark Lord are absolutely worth remembering, but those six students weren’t the only ones who brought a lasting peace to the Wizarding World. 

Marietta Edgecombe’s efforts in stopping the Dark Lord and his followers were almost as important yet they got no attention. When the tale of Harry Potter is told, the only mention of Marietta Edgecombe was of the worst of her actions; her one-time betrayal of Harry Potter and his friends, and ignores the best of Marietta’s actions; when she returned to their aid and regained their trust, and then went above and beyond anyone’s expectations for what she could do in service of her fellow witches and wizards. Some retellings of Harry Potter’s legend leave Marietta out of the narrative entirely. 

For years, Marietta Edgecombe’s story was never told in full because hardly anyone was paying attention to her. She liked it that way. In school, she could be more anonymous next to her more popular friend Cho Chang, and not many people cared about the difference between Marietta and her other friends Hajra Meghwar, Nayah Mumboko, Mandy Brocklehurst, and Corinne Llewellyn. During the war it was paramount that people not pay attention to her. The spotlight wasn’t Marietta’s forte. After the war ended, her story came out through the people she was in contact with, but stayed hidden for a long time.

She was the Sneak, a traitor, the wraith, an obedient but later rebellious daughter, a gifted witch, a bad friend, a good friend, a brilliant spy, a caring lover, and a formidable Auror. Marietta Edgecombe is many things to many people, but if you were to ask Harry Potter and his friends, they would tell you she is one of the secret heroes of the Wizarding War.

This is Marietta Edgecombe’s story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The rest of the chapters aren't going to be in this style of writing. They're going to be written in Third Person Limited from Marietta's POV, which is the style JKR uses for Harry in the regular books.
> 
> This is in the same canon as my unfinished Golden Generation series, but if you're only interested in reading this, the only major differences are that Ginny is in the Harry, Ron, and Hermione friend group, and that Harry and Ginny are interested in each other from the start of PoA onward, and Harry was never romantically interested in Cho. He considered Cho a friend, but wasn't interested in her.


	2. The Sorting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marietta enters Hogwarts to find meaningful amounts of magic for the first time in her life, as well as a group of friends surrounding her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bold text is direct quotes from the books, but don't expect many more of those.

The day was 1 September 1990. The view of Hogwarts Castle was nothing less than astounding to the eleven year old Marietta Edgecombe on the boats with the giant man who called himself Hagrid and the rest of her first year class. The Black Lake and the silhouette of Hogwarts was nothing like Marietta had ever seen before. The lake was as smooth as glass and everyone could see the Milky Way Galaxy above the darkened horizon. Even growing up in a Wizarding house with her mother, Marietta had never seen the sky so clearly. Marietta and her mother Jezebel lived in a Muggle neighborhood in Liverpool right next to Anfield Stadium and the bright lights from the city had always blotted out most of the stars. 

The amount of magic Marietta had seen in her life had always been quite limited due to her family living in close proximity to Muggles. The Statute of Secrecy made it impractical and unsafe for much magic to be used in the Edgecombe household. Jezebel had resented living so close to Muggles, but she never had the money to live elsewhere. There wasn’t much money in selling Floo Powder to Liverpool’s small wizarding population, especially when most people went to London’s Diagon Alley to get all their things. Marietta knew from a young age that Diagon Alley wasn’t the only place you could get equipment, but it was the only place you would want to go to. Other English cities like Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Sheffield, and a few others had smaller streets with wizard shops like Diagon Alley, but there weren’t as many shops in any of them and none of them had a wand shop that was in the same league as Ollivander’s when it came to quality, nor did any of them have a branch of Gringotts. Liverpool’s Coloss Alley (where Jezebel sold Floo Powder at two sickles a scoop) was the only exposure Marietta had to magic before she went to Ollivander’s to get her wand of Fir wood and Phoenix Feather.

Marietta had first met other witches and wizards of her age on the Hogwarts Express earlier that day. She and Jezebel went to Liverpool’s Lime Street Station and to its own entrance to the famous Platform 9¾. Like with Diagon Alley, there were other entrances to Platform 9¾ besides King’s Cross in London in many other cities across England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. Unlike Coloss Alley, it was actually practical for kids to use them. Jezebel told Marietta how the long train journey aboard the Scarlet Steamer was a tradition for all Hogwarts students no matter where they lived. Even if they lived in Scotland like Marietta’s new friend Nayah she’d met on the train, the tradition was to enter through a barrier in a train station in a large city and it would transport you all the way south to London and everyone would make the same journey northward to Hogwarts Castle. 

Presently, Marietta sat in the back left corner of a boat with three of the four other girls she had met on the Hogwarts Express. Sat in front of Marietta was Nayah Mumboko. Nayah had told Marietta and the others she was born in Cameroon, close to the border with Nigeria, to an all-magic family, who had all moved to Glasgow when Nayah was three years old, so she held few memories of her original home. To Marietta’s right was Hajra Meghwar, whose Muggle parents were immigrants from Faisalabad, Pakistan. Hajra lived in London and her parents had been overjoyed to see their daughter get a letter from Hogwarts. In the front right corner of the boat was a blonde girl named Corinne Llewelyn who lived in Swansea. Of the girls Marietta had met on the train, Corinne was the one who knew the most about Hogwarts. She had an older brother called Keith in Ravenclaw house and already had some pretense of what to expect at Hogwarts. Marietta’s mother Jezebel had rarely talked about Hogwarts due to how often she was needed at the Floo Powder shop.

In a boat not too far away from Marietta, with three people Marietta didn’t know, was the fourth person Marietta had met on the train, a Chinese-Scottish girl named Cho Chang. Cho was the person Marietta had gotten to know the least so far, as she had let Nayah, Hajra, and Corinne do most of the talking on the train. All four of Marietta’s new friends seemed very smart and likely to end up in Ravenclaw house, where Corinne’s brother Keith was. Marietta hoped she could be with her new friends, but it seemed unlikely. Her mother Jezebel had been in Slytherin. Marietta’s father Benjamin (who had died when Marietta was only two years old) was in Hufflepuff. If Marietta ended up in either of those houses, she’d probably make new friends but lose out on staying close with Cho, Hajra, Nayah, or Corinne, who all seemed destined for Ravenclaw.

As the boats reached the boathouse they were headed for, Marietta made sure that Cho wouldn’t get separated from their group. Marietta, Cho, Hajra, Nayah, and Corinne walked up to the castle near the middle of the large group of first years, possibly for the only time the five of them would stay together. 

“It’s so much more grand than I ever could have imagined,” Hajra whispered as the first years entered the oak front doors.

“My mother never showed me how beautiful Hogwarts was,” Marietta replied, “I wish she’d told me.”

“She probably wanted you to experience it for yourself, Mary,” said Cho. 

The first years walked behind Hagrid up the stairs to a stern-looking older witch who was looking out at all of them. She gave Marietta an air of authority and cleverness from the moment she laid eyes on her. 

“Here they are, Professor McGonagall. Safe and sound, as usual,” said Hagrid. 

“Thank you, Hagrid,” said Professor McGonagall. Hagrid bowed slightly to the first years, and then walked into a large room where it looked like all the other students were seated. The doors closed behind Hagrid and then McGonagall addressed the first years themselves. 

**“Welcome to Hogwarts,” she said. “The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your House will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your House, sleep in your House dormitory, and spend** much of **your free time in your House common room.”**

Marietta looked over at Cho and the rest of her new friends and silently hoped they would become this new family. 

**“The four Houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each House has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your House points, and any rulebreaking will lose House points. At the end of the year, the House with the most points is awarded the House cup, a great honour. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever House becomes yours. The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting.”**

“What do you think it’ll be?” Cho asked Corinne. 

“Keith didn’t say. Not sure he’s allowed to say,” Corinne replied. 

“Some sort of test,” some boy said, though Marietta knew not who this was. Marietta steeled herself, waiting for McGonagall to return and her to be potentially separated from her friends. Marietta always thought of herself as smart, but she would soon see if she actually was or not. 

Professor McGonagall returned through the doors, said “off you go,” and the first years entered the Great Hall. Hundreds of students sat at four long tables, several translucent people who were probably ghosts, stood at the sides of the hall, and at the front of the room were several adults; Marietta assumed them to be the teachers. The first years walked towards the front of the room where the adults were sitting. 

McGonagall took a ratty old hat and placed it on a stool, before it straightened up and sang a song that told everyone what its purpose was and how you’d be in Gryffindor if you were brave and chivalrous, in Hufflepuff if you were loyal and hard-working, in Ravenclaw if you were intelligent and perceptive, or in Slytherin if you were cunning and ambitious. Jezebel had hoped Marietta would end up in Slytherin like her, but Marietta didn’t think of herself as ambitious. After the Sorting Hat finished its song, McGonagall produced a scroll of parchment with the names of the first years on it.

“Abernathy, Annie!” said McGonagall. A blonde, freckled girl walked forward, sat down on the stool, and placed the hat on her head.

“HUFFLEPUFF!” shouted the hat, and the Hufflepuff table applauded Annie. 

Abernathy, Jack went to Hufflepuff, as well, and Belby, Marcus became the first new Ravenclaw. 

“Bell, Katie!” A black-haired girl got up and went to the stool.

“GRYFFINDOR!” shouted the hat. Katie Bell got up and sat down at the Gryffindor table.

“Brannan, Gary!” A pale boy with glasses went forward and put the hat on his head.

“RAVENCLAW!” Gary went over to the Ravenclaw table. Marietta’s concerns about where she would be placed were abated knowing she’d be somewhat early in the order.

“Chang, Cho!” Cho walked over to the stool. 

“RAVENCLAW!” Cho got up from the stool, a look of relief on her face, and sat next to Gary Brannan.

A few more people went to each of the houses, and then…

“Edgecombe, Marietta!”

Marietta took a deep breath, she wasn’t getting any more attention than any of the other first years. She walked over to the Sorting Hat and put it on her head. In her mind, she heard a voice.

“Interesting. You find yourself expecting to be in Slytherin due to your heritage, but you don’t really think that’s a good fit for you. Very loyal to your new friends, but not really for the house of loyalty. There’s certainly courage, too, though it’s not what you value most. Your mind seems to be what you value most, and I think you’re right to do so.”

“RAVENCLAW!” the hat called, and waves of relief washed over Marietta. She’d at least be with Cho. Several Ravenclaws welcomed Marietta to the table and she sat down between Cho and Gary Brannan. 

More people that Marietta didn’t know went off to Slytherin, Hufflepuff, and Gryffindor. 

“Llewellyn, Corinne!” 

Corinne went forward to the stool. 

“RAVENCLAW!” 

The Ravenclaw table applauded and Marietta stood up to welcome Corinne. She sat down across from Marietta and Cho. 

Lund, Lionel went to Slytherin and McLaggen, Cormac went to Gryffindor. 

“Meghwar, Hajra!”

Hajra went nervously up to the stool, muttering “everything’s fine” to herself. A moment later,

“RAVENCLAW!” 

Marietta and Cho jumped up again. They almost had everyone. Hajra strode over to the Ravenclaw table and sat to Marietta’s left. Several people shook Hajra’s hands just as they’d done with Cho, Marietta, and Corinne. 

Morris, Yolanda went to Hufflepuff and there was one person left Marietta paid attention to. 

“Mumboko, Nayah!” 

Nayah was clearly worried that she’d be stuck without any of her friends. She’d probably be able to make new friends without them, but Marietta liked Nayah enough to want her in Ravenclaw with everyone else. The Sorting Hat’s decision was quicker than any other that night.

“RAVENCLAW!” it called, and Marietta’s set of friends was complete. Nayah walked to the Ravenclaw table, shook hands with at least ten people, and sat down next to Corinne across from Cho, Marietta, and Hajra.

For the rest of the ceremony, Marietta didn’t really pay attention. Not now. She had a home where she could do magic without worrying about Muggles observing her, and she had already supportive friends surrounding her. Through the banquet, Headmaster Dumbledore’s speech about the rules of the castle, the frankly ridiculous school song that she didn't care for, and the complicated walk up to the Ravenclaw Common Room, Marietta was in awe of everything around her. She’d known about magic for as long as she could remember but only now was able to witness large amounts of it for herself. It was all incredible and she wished her mother would talk more about it.

Marietta, Cho, Nayah, Hajra, and Corinne all had the same dormitory. It held five resplendent four-poster beds with midnight blue drapes while the dormitory itself had constellations painted on the ceiling and the floor. Everyone was too tired and full to really talk about anything they hadn’t spoken about at dinner or on the train. 

Everyone went to sleep in Hogwarts, their new home. What they could not have known at the time was this was the start of the last truly quiet and peaceful year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for a whole decade. The peace they slept in now had a rapidly approaching end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since this is Marietta's story, I'll admit I don't know where I'm going with these new characters I've created. We'll see together what I have in store for them. 
> 
> It could be a bit before any more comes from this as I need to figure out what happens between now and Goblet of Fire, in which I have nothing to go on.


End file.
